Officials: Plane crash near Buffalo kills 49


Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?CLARENCE, N.Y. (AP) — A commuter plane crashed into a suburban Buffalo home and erupted in flames late Thursday, killing all 48 people aboard and one person on the ground, authorities said.

LOCAL COVERAGE: WGRZ-TV

Flames silhouetted the shattered home after Continental Connection Flight 3407 plummeted into it around 10:20 p.m.

"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile from the crash site. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."

The 74-seat Q400 Bombardier aircraft, operated by Colgan Air, was flying from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International Airport in light snow, fog and 17 mph winds.

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Dworak said while residents of his neighborhood about 10 miles from the Buffalo airport were used to planes rumbling overhead, this one sounded louder than usual, sputtered and made some odd noises. After hearing the crash, he drove over to take a look, and "all we were seeing was 50 to 100 foot flames and a pile of rubble on the ground. It looked like the house just got destroyed the instant it got hit."

Witness Tony Tatro said he saw the plane flying low and knew it was in trouble.

"It was not spiraling at all. The left wing was a little low," he told WGRZ-TV.

It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the United States since Aug. 27, 2006, when 49 people were killed after a Comair jetliner took off from a Lexington, Ky., runway that was too short.

Prior to the crash, the voice of a female pilot on Continental Flight 3407 could be heard communicating with air traffic controllers, according to a recording of the Buffalo air traffic control's radio messages shortly before the crash captured by the website www.liveatc.net. Neither the controller nor the pilot exchange showed any concerns that anything is out of the ordinary as the airplane is asked to fly at 2,300 feet.

A minute later, the controller tries to contact the plane but hears no response. After a pause, he tries to contact the plane again.

Then the controller asks the pilot of a nearby Delta Air Lines plane to see if he can see the Continental flight.

"Delta 1998, look off your right side about 5 miles for a Dash 8 about 2,300 (feet). You see anything there?" he asks.

"Uh, negative," the Delta pilot says.

Houston-based Continental Airlines issued a statement saying that preliminary information showed the plane carried 44 passengers and a crew of four.

"At this time, the full resources of Colgan Air's accident response team are being mobilized and will be devoted to cooperating with all authorities responding to the accident and to contacting family members and providing assistance to them," the statement said.

Chris Kausner, believing his sister was on the plane, rushed to a hastily established command center after calling his vacationing mother in Florida to break the news.

"To tell you the truth, I heard my mother make a noise on the phone that I've never heard before. So not good, not good," he told reporters.

Clarence emergency control director Dave Bissonette said the crash killed one person on the ground.

Manassas, Va.-based Colgan did not immediately return telephone calls.

Federal Aviation Administration investigators will join a team led by the National Transportation Safety Board that will be on the scene at first daylight, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said from Washington.

Twelve homes were evacuated near the crash site, about 10 miles from the airport. The tail or part of a wing was visible through flames and thick smoke that engulfed the scene.

Two women believed to be residents of the neighborhood were being treated at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital for what were described as non-life threatening injuries, hospital spokesman Michael Hughes said. They were transported by ambulance approximately 11:35 p.m.

The crash came less than a month after a US Airways pilot guided his crippled plane to a landing in the Hudson River off Manhattan, saving the lives of all 155 people aboard. Birds had apparently disabled both its engines.

On Dec. 20, a Continental Airlines plane veered off a runway and slid into a snowy field at the Denver airport, injuring 38 people.

Continental's release said relatives and friends of those on Flight 3407 who wanted to give or receive information about those on board could telephone a special family assistance number, 1-800-621-3263.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I was just going to post this thread. It happened hours ago, I couldn't believe nobody had posted it yet.

Five minutes before landing everything was good, and then.... crashed into a house.

They crashed into a house?
That's sad and so tragic, such an unfortunate incident here.








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[Edited 2/13/09 1:37am]

wildgoldenhoney said:

Yes. One resident in the house was killed, presumably the husband but a baby girl and a mother were brought to hospital with only minor injuries.

whats going on people?

wow so sad.

Teacher said:

So tragic.


But at least the mom and baby survived.

Apparently this crash claimed the exact number of people as the last plane that crashed into the ground in the US did, back in '06. 49 dead.

When I woke up at 4 and turned on the radio, the press conference was going on. I was like It seemed surreal.
My prayers go out to the families of those that died...

it's not a small plane really

I was just informed from my friends in Buffalo - they lost their daughter on this flight

a wonderful young woman -

I only have a few minutes to post before I have to leave again.

Someone very close to my heart was on that plane. I cannot go into detail now because his family might not all know yet. I almost lost 2 others but they changed their plans at the last minute and one stayed with me and the other 2 left on different flights. I don't know if this is making sense, I haven't been to bed yet.
When the news came on tv last night, it caught my attention but they said it was a small plane, not a commercial flight so I didn't think it affected me but then they said it was Continental and that was the flight they always use to go to Ny and back. Now I found out that my other person came home on the same plane earlier in the day

Hug and kiss your loved ones and tell them you love them every chance you get.

Mach said:

I'm so sorry, my friend was traveling with a young woman who worked for him. I saw her brother on the news this morning.

Please give my condolences to your friends.

Mach said:

RIP

Mach said:

Wow, so tragic.

Mach said:

I have a friend of mine who's a flight attendant for Continental Connection and he's based out of Newark. I texted him this morning to see if he was around but I haven't heard from him yet. I'm going to try again cause I need to know if he's alright but this is scary. I saw him last week and we were talking about airplanes and he said that its the safest form of travel out there. Now all of this. Damn

I just called his number and it's temporarily out of service. Now I'm really getting concerned.
[Edited 2/13/09 6:57am]

Mach said:

I'm so sorry and my prayers go out to you and your friends and the family of the lady.

Ughhhhh This is just terrible...

I'm deathly afraid of flying and I'm getting on a plane again in 2 weeks. I actually have to take crazy pills so I won't freak out. It's awful, and this makes it a million times worse.

Their poor families

shellyevon said:

Her brother was there to pick her up - perhaps it was the same person ...

anyway Please give my condolences to your friends as well

I have to fly in less than a month. This is really disconcerting.

Everyones chances of dying in a car is much much higher - I know all y'all know that

just a small does of perspective

Mach said:

Yeah, that's true; I've never een afraid to fly in general, but this crash AND the other into the Hudson River a few weeks ago is getting scary.

Mach said:

I think it's quite possible it's the same person.
Thank you

purplecam said:

My friend's phone came up out of service too. It never is out of service.
I hope your friend is alright, they will be giving out the manifest of who was on the plane after all the families are contacted. Most of the families are here in Buffalo but some have to travel.

chocolate1 said:

Thank you.

shellyevon said:

I called my best friend who's also friends with him and he hasn't heard from him either. We have to hope for the best in this situation.

My thoughts and prayers go out to you
[Edited 2/13/09 8:00am]

purplecam said:

Thank you right now I'm numb, I just can't believe such a vital loving man is gone. I want to keep hoping.

shellyevon said:

Sorry for your loss.

Mach said:

So sad.